So you just want to dismiss the majority of the violence was committed by Muslims, you just want to gloss over that? So let's focus on the invasion itself or you want to focus on the real cause of the carnage?

Yes, let's focus on the real cause of the carnage, which was George Dubya's mis-search for the culprits of 9/11 in Iraq instead of in Saudi Arabia, along with a double cause which was Bush jnr's Saddam hunt on behalf of Bush snr. In other words, a complete mistake invading Iraq but it looked good at the time.

But why does the U.S. need to state concern over a local nation fighting its own local war? Surely IS in Iraq bears far more relevance to the Iranians than it does to a continent on the other side of the planet (the US).

bass4funk,
You seem to be assuming that a) any English language post on here is American and b) that any slightly positive comments about Iran are from liberal democrats. I am neither American nor a liberal democrat so my opinion about the Iranians rolling their sleeves up with IS stands. And are the Iranians with the bomb really that much more of a threat than the U.S./ Russia/ Israel with the bomb? Considering recent events involving those three nations (Iraq, Ukraine, Palestine).

Well, at least someone (the Iranians) are committing themselves to taking on IS without any fear and going frontline with the fight. Rather than the U.S. 'express concern' over Iran's profile in Iraq, why not share the same commitment? And I cannot see a much better opportunity for the Iranians and the U.S. to finally thaw their standoff and resume some kind of relationship, irrespective of outside criticism.

Try living in the UK. 15 minutes would be regarded as fairly average (yep!) and even if you are fortunate to get into an ambulance the chances are that you might be sitting on a trolley at the hospital waiting to get into A&E.

Peeping-Tom, maybe answer my main question. Why do we in the west (I am Christian and British) defend huge insults to the Islamic religion as our right to freedom of expression? Why haven't we raised the question of why these cartoonists and illustrators have caused such insults without us being outraged?

And I think you have little idea of the history of Northern Ireland. Even in 2015 and after the peace accord there are purely no-go zones for Catholics and vice versa for Protestants. Most people would not dare to imagine characterising the Queen as a dog without fear of huge insults to the Protestant community, so why do we in the west think it might be acceptable under freedom of expression to do something similar to muslims?

I hope this new wave of terrorist murders (it is murder, nothing less) is dealt with swiftly. For all those who have bleated on about protection of individual privacy on the internet should realise that it is this monitoring of the internet that provides the leads to stop terrorism before it happens.

But, there is one very important subject that needs to be dealt with here. Surely the depiction of a religious God in the form of a dog is intended to insult and fan the flames of terrorism? Whilst we all support freedom of expression and stand up against terrorism, why haven't we protested about insulting images of other people's Gods? If it weren't for these insulting images then we would not have had to deal with another wave of terrorism and it is far too easy to defend these images as a right to freedom of expression.

If I were to charicture Martin Luther King as a dog then I would expect to get attacked by the black civil rights movement and If I were to charicture The Queen of England as a dog then I would not be able to walk the streets of Belfast in safety. So why are we happy to allow insults against a Muslim religion and pass it off as freedom of expression?

The squad is decent enough with a few star players, so why not look for Okada's Japanese replacement? Okada has been the most successful coach for a long time, and was Japanese, so why this foreign coach thing?

The headline story was the repeat of last years FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Hull, with the question being whether the current holders Arsenal will repeat in 2015. What's with the Man City storyline?

It has to be said, Yoshida has really been a success in the premier league recently after an uncertain beginning and he has held down a starting spot under both Koeman and Poccetino. Possibly the first Japanese player to succeed in the premier league and playing for a form team playing great football (in other words he isn't getting games because of poor squad competition).

4 leagues for me senseiman. 2 central leagues and 2 pacific leagues with at least 4 teams in each. Then you open up Japan baseball to new franchises. And then do away with that ridiculous rule of the league winner getting a 1 game advantage in the division final.

Oh and thanks to the moderator for pointing out very clearly that Kyojin received a 1 game win just for the sake of being the season winners and despite the fact that nobody else awards a 1 game advantage just because you won the season division. I was probably being literal and factual, as opposed to the "ghost" 1 game that Kyojin won. In reality it was 4-0. For the fat cat TV execs and the J commission, it was 4-1 apparently.

Athletes won’t be forced to join Team Scotland, so some may prefer to stick with the status quo in Team GB if they can, as the easier and possibly safer option.

What angers me is the current governments racist stance on immigration. If the Scots vote for independence why should they be given a free pass to remain British? There are immigrants who wish to live in the UK with their British partners but cannot because of the current rules on earnings and nationality. These people want to live in the UK but cannot. And yet we have a large pro-independence movement in Scotland slagging-off everything to do with British history and parliament, yet the British government are pleading with them to stay! So the current government plead with people who do not want to be British, yet slam the door on those who do. And it is based purely on race. Romanians - no thanks. Polish - stay away. Scots - please don't go. if they vote Yes on Thursday then make the 750,000 Scots living in England return back to their glorious independent nation and then apply for British visas just like everyone else has to.

As for British sport not being so glorious without Scots, do me a favour. You have quoted 2 examples (Ferguson, Hoy). And Ferguson was famous for managing an ENGLISH club. I can quote you Clough and Wiggins immediately back in return.

My advice to everyone is to fully support the (slightly) cheaper airlines with 1 stop between London and Japan. Finnair, Austrian, and Swiss can offer some good fares and you can even support Finnish, Austrian, and German/ Swiss tourism as they allow you to stop off for a stay.

I can't help feeling that Virgin have bottled-it because when a date is not so busy they have more fuel to pay for from London to Tokyo in comparison to upfront fuel costs between London and Detroit. Profit margins ahead of customers.